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Union Minister M Venkaiah Naidu asserted that the “every inch” of Arunachal Pradesh belongs to India and China has “no business” to name any Indian place.

“Arunachal Pradesh is totally part and parcel of India. China has no business to name any of the district. I don’t know why they have taken this step,” Naidu, the Information and Broadcasting Minister, told a press conference.

Stressing that “every inch of the state belongs to India”, the minister said that no foreign country has the right to rename any part of India.

Naidu asked if anybody’s name can be changed if his or her neighbour does so.

The minister was responding to a query on the Chinese action of unilaterally changing the names of six places in Arunachal Pradesh.

China had yesterday announced that it has “standardised” official names for six places in the northeastern state and termed the provocative move as a “legitimate action”. The Chinese move came days after Beijing lodged a strong protest with India over the Dalai Lama’s visit to the frontier state.